Workpiece processing apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

The present invention is related to a workpiece processing apparatus and method for processing a warping workpiece. The workpiece processing apparatus comprises a base, a carrier and an adjusting device. The carrier comprises a loading surface and a plurality of suction units, wherein each of the plurality of suction units is disposed inside the carrier. The adjusting device comprises an adjusting surface, and at least one adjusting portion is protruded from the adjusting surface. A first surface of the workpiece partially contacts to the loading surface of the carrier. At least one of the adjusting device and the carrier is movably connected to the base. By generating a relative movement between the adjusting device and the carrier, the first surface contacts the loading surface in a more even condition so as to make the workpiece become an adjusted workpiece.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a workpiece processing apparatus and method, and particularly to a workpiece processing apparatus and method that may be utilized to adjust a warped workpiece into a workpiece with less warp, such that the adjusted workpiece can be securely sucked by a carrier.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the development of the science and technology today, the wafer is widely applied to various electronic products. However, the wafer may have a warped structure due to the process, such that the warped wafer may not be sucked securely by a carrier for transportation. As a result, the warped wafer may not undergo subsequent related processes or test procedures, and a usable or high-quality wafer may not be produced.

In some prior art technologies, a carrier includes an electrostatic chuck or a vacuum chuck, which generates a stronger suction force with the increased power of the suction units on the carrier, so as to make the warped wafer to be planar through the suction force. However, such method causes the dramatic increase of the output power and the increase of the cost, and still can not suck the warped wafer securely on the carrier effectively.

In some other prior art technologies, the carrier is a vacuum chuck having an auxiliary component at its edge. The auxiliary component is used to abut to the edge of the wafer, such that one or more airtight chambers may be formed between the wafer and the carrier, thereby a warped surface of the wafer may be sucked by the suction force of the vacuum chuck effectively. However, if the auxiliary component is installed on the carrier, subsequent processing procedures for the wafer will be affected, and if the auxiliary component is detachably connected with the carrier, then a structure with very high precision and high degrees of freedom may be required to control the motion of the auxiliary component, so as to form an airtight chamber in conjunction with the warped wafer on the carrier. However, a structure of the auxiliary component with such high precision and high degrees of freedom may be quite complex and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the above problems, one objective of the present invention is to provide a workpiece processing apparatus with a simple structure and a method applying the workpiece processing apparatus, which may shorten a distance between an adjusting device and a carrier to reduce the warp of a warped workpiece through the contact between an adjusting portion of the adjusting device and a non-working area of the warped workpiece, such that the workpiece may be securely sucked on the carrier.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a workpiece processing apparatus for processing a warped workpiece is disclosed. The workpiece has a plate shape and has a first surface and a second surface, the workpiece is warped and comprises a recessed portion at the second surface, and a non-working area is located at an area near an edge of the workpiece. The workpiece processing apparatus comprises a base, a carrier and an adjusting device. The carrier has a loading surface and a plurality of suction units, and each of the plurality of suction units is disposed inside the carrier. The adjusting device has an adjusting surface, and at least one adjusting portion protruded from the adjusting surface. Additionally, the first surface of the workpiece is partially contacted with the loading surface of the carrier. Further, at least one of the adjusting device and the carrier is movably connected with the base, such that the adjusting device and the carrier are movable with respect to each other, so as to make the adjusting surface to face the loading surface and the second surface; and make the at least one adjusting portion to be contacted with the second surface and the non-working area, thereby the first surface is contacted with the loading surface more evenly and the workpiece becomes an adjusted workpiece.

Preferably, the workpiece processing apparatus further comprises a processing device, and a relative movement is formed among the carrier, the adjusting device and the processing device, such that the processing device is contacted with the adjusted workpiece.

A workpiece processing method for processing a warped workpiece is disclosed. The workpiece has a plate shape and has a first surface and a second surface, the workpiece is warped and defines a recessed portion at the second surface, and a non-working area is defined at an area near an edge of the workpiece defines. The workpiece processing method comprises: providing a carrier having a loading surface; placing the workpiece onto the loading surface of the carrier, such that the first surface of the workpiece is partially contacted with the loading surface of the carrier; providing an adjusting device having an adjusting surface, and at least one adjusting portion protruded from the adjusting surface; generating a relative movement between the carrier and the adjusting device, so as to make the at least one adjusting portion to be contacted with the second surface and the non-working area, thereby the first surface is contacted with the loading surface more evenly and the workpiece becomes an adjusted workpiece.

Preferably, the carrier has a plurality of suction units disposed inside the carrier, and the adjusted workpiece is held on the carrier through a suction force generated by the plurality of suction units.

Preferably, the workpiece processing method comprises further providing a processing device, and the carrier, the adjusting device and the processing device are movable with respect to each other, such that the processing device is contacted with the adjusted workpiece.

The objectives, subject matters and properties of the present invention and the effects achieved by the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a sectional front view of a structure of a workpiece processing apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A through FIG. 2C show schematic action drawings of the workpiece processing apparatus according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of an example of an adjusting portion of an adjusting device; and

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a carrier that is a vacuum chuck.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a workpiece processing apparatus 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a fixed base (not shown), a carrier 10 and an adjusting device 20. The carrier 10 has a loading surface 12 and a plurality of suction units (not shown) disposed inside the carrier 10. In addition, the suction units are used to provide a suction force to hold the object loaded on the carrier 10 onto the carrier 10. Preferably, the suction units comprise electrostatic or vacuum suction units, such that the carrier 10 is an electrostatic chuck or a vacuum chuck, respectively. The electrostatic chuck and vacuum chuck are well known by those skilled in the art, so its related configurations or principles are omitted here. The adjusting device 20 has an adjusting surface 22, and at least one adjusting portion 24 is protruded from the adjusting surface 22. Furthermore, at least one of the carrier 10 and the adjusting device 20 is movably connected with the base, such that the carrier 10 and the adjusting device 20 are movable with respect to each other, so as to make the adjusting surface 22 of the adjusting device 20 to face the loading surface 12 of the carrier 10 surface to surface and make a distance between the adjusting surface 22 and the loading surface 12 to be changed/adjusted.

Furthermore, as for various possible examples of the change of the distance between the adjusting surface 22 and the loading surface 12, the following three examples are illustrated herein. In one example, the carrier 10 is fixed to the base, and the adjusting device 20 is movably connected with the base. In another example, the adjusting device 20 is fixed to the base, and the carrier 10 is movably connected with the base. In yet another example, both the carrier 10 and the adjusting device 20 are movably connected with the base.

According to the above descriptions, FIG. 2A through FIG. 2C show action drawings in which a warped workpiece 30 is processed by the workpiece processing apparatus 1 according to FIG. 1. In addition, a workpiece 30 is disposed on the loading surface 12 of the carrier 10. The workpiece 30 has a plate shape and has a first surface 32 and a second surface 34, and the workpiece 30 is warped and has a recessed portion 36 at the second surface 34, in the embodiment the workpiece 30 is upwardly curved. It can be understood that the workpiece 30 may be downwardly curved. The first surface 32 is partially contacted with the loading surface 12, and a non-working area 38 is defined at an area near an edge of the workpiece 30. That is, when the workpiece 30 is disposed on the loading surface 12, the edge of the workpiece 30 is warped in a direction away from the loading surface 12. Moreover, the adjusting device 20 and the carrier 10 are movable with respect to each other, so as to make the adjusting surface 22 to face the loading surface 12 and the second surface 34. And then the at least one adjusting portion 24 is moved in a direction toward the loading surface 12 to be contacted with the second surface 34 and the non-working area 38, thereby the first surface 32 is contacted with the loading surface 12 more evenly and the workpiece 30 becomes an adjusted workpiece 30′ (as shown in FIG. 2C). Preferably, the workpiece 30 is a wafer. More preferably, the workpiece 30 is a wafer and comprises a plurality of chips disposed thereon, and there is no chip at the non-working area 38. In one example, the workpiece 30 comprises a first material and a second material connected to the first material. The first material has a first expansion coefficient, and the second material has a second expansion coefficient different from the first expansion coefficient. The first material forms the first surface 32, and the second material forms the second surface 34. It should be noted that a shape of the adjusting portion 24 is corresponding to a shape of the workpiece 30. For example, when the workpiece 30 is a disk-shaped object (not shown), the adjusting portion 24 is an annular protrusion (as shown in FIG. 3) that is formed corresponding to the non-working area 38 of the edge of the disk-shaped object.

In detail, the adjusting device 20 and the carrier 10 are movable with respect to each other to have a first position, a second position and a third position correspondingly. As shown in FIG. 2A, the first position is defined as the space configuration between the adjusting device 20 and the carrier 10. In the first position, the adjusting surface 22 of the adjusting device 20 faces the loading surface 12 of the carrier 10 at a distance, the first surface 32 of the workpiece 30 is partially contacted with the loading surface 12, and a non-working area 38 is defined at an area near an edge of the workpiece 30. As shown in FIG. 2B, the adjusting device 20 and the carrier 10 are movable with respect to each other, such that the second position is defined as the space configuration between the adjusting device 20 and the carrier 10. In the second position, the at least one adjusting portion 24 is contacted with the second surface 34 and the non-working area 38, and a distance from an edge of the first surface 32 to the loading surface 12 defines an unadjusted distance. As shown in FIG. 2C, the adjusting device 20 and the carrier 10 are movable with respect to each other, such that the third position is defined as the space configuration between the adjusting device 20 and the carrier 10. In the third position, the at least one adjusting portion 24 is contacted with the second surface 34 and the non-working area 38, and a distance from the edge of the first surface 32 to the loading surface 12 defines an adjusted distance, such that the adjusted distance is less than the unadjusted distance, thereby the first surface 32 is contacted with the loading surface 12 more evenly and the workpiece 30 becomes an adjusted workpiece 30′.

Moreover, when the workpiece 30 becomes an adjusted workpiece 30′, the first surface 32 of the adjusted workpiece 30′ is contacted with the loading surface 12 more evenly, and the adjusted workpiece 30′ is held on the carrier 10 through a suction force provided by the suction units. That is, the adjusted distance that is defined as a distance from the edge of the first surface 32 of the adjusted workpiece 30′ to the loading surface 12 is less than the unadjusted distance that is defined as a distance from the edge of the first surface 32 of the warped workpiece 30 to the loading surface 12, such that in a case where a same-strength suction force is provided by the suction units, the effect of the suction force that is applied to the adjusted workpiece 30′ by the suction units is enhanced. Thus, the adjusted workpiece 30′ may be held on the carrier 10 more securely, thereby the problem that the warped workpiece 30 may not be held or sucked securely by the carrier 10 may be solved, and the problem of the prior art that the warped workpiece 30 may not be sucked securely on the carrier 10 even with the high-power suction force or electricity may be solved.

In one example, as shown in FIG. 4, the suction units are vacuum suction units. The carrier 10 comprises a plurality of channels 100, each of which is disposed inside the carrier 10 and has a corresponding opening 102 on the loading surface 12. The suction force generated through the plurality of channels 100 may suck and hold the first surface 32 of the adjusted workpiece 30′ that is contacted with the loading surface 12 more evenly (as shown in FIG. 2C) onto the carrier 10 securely.

In one example, the workpiece processing apparatus 1 further comprises a processing device (not shown), and the carrier 10, the adjusting device 20 and the processing device are movable with respect to each other, such that the processing device is contacted with the adjusted workpiece 30′. Furthermore, the processing device widely comprises a related device that is used to process or test the adjusted workpiece 30′ fixed on the carrier 10. In one example (not shown), the processing device has any one of a cutting device, a milling machine, a drilling machine and a grinding machine of at least one movable processing unit, and the processing unit is configured to be contacted with the adjusted workpiece 30′. In another example (not shown), the processing device is a probe card that is used to perform electrical measurements on the adjusted workpiece 30′, and the probe card is configured to be contacted with the adjusted workpiece 30′. It should be noted that, preferably, the processing device is any one of the above-mentioned examples, but is not limited to the illustrated examples.

According to the foregoing descriptions, the configuration relations and actions of various elements of the above-mentioned workpiece processing apparatus 1 can also be implemented as a workpiece processing method. The workpiece processing method comprises one or more examples of the above-mentioned workpiece processing apparatus 1, and mainly comprises the following steps: providing a carrier 10 having a loading surface 12; placing the workpiece 30 onto the loading surface 12 of the carrier 10, such that the first surface 32 of the workpiece 30 is partially contacted with the loading surface 12 of the carrier 10; providing an adjusting device 20 having an adjusting surface 22, and at least one adjusting portion 24 protruded from the adjusting surface 22; generating a relative movement between the carrier 10 and the adjusting device 20, so as to make the at least one adjusting portion 24 to be contacted with the second surface 34 and the non-working area 38, thereby the first surface 32 is contacted with the loading surface 12 more evenly and the workpiece 30 becomes an adjusted workpiece 30′. Preferably, in one example, a processing device is provided, such that the processing device is contacted with the adjusted workpiece 30′. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A workpiece processing apparatus for processing a warped workpiece, the workpiece having a plate shape and having a first surface and a second surface, the workpiece having a recessed portion at the second surface, and a non-working area located at an area near an edge of the workpiece, the workpiece processing apparatus comprising: a base; a carrier having a loading surface and a plurality of suction units, each of the plurality of suction units being disposed inside the carrier; and an adjusting device having an adjusting surface, and at least one adjusting portion protruded from the adjusting surface; wherein the first surface of the workpiece is partially contacted with the loading surface of the carrier; wherein at least one of the adjusting device and the carrier is movably connected with the base, such that the adjusting device and the carrier are movable with respect to each other, so as to make the adjusting surface to face the loading surface and the second surface; and make the at least one adjusting portion to be contacted with the second surface and the non-working area, thereby the first surface is contacted with the loading surface more evenly and the workpiece becomes an adjusted workpiece.
 2. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a processing device, wherein a relative movement is formed among the carrier, the adjusting device and the processing device, such that the processing device is contacted with the adjusted workpiece.
 3. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting device and the carrier are movable with respect to each other to a first position, a second position and a third position; wherein in the first position, the adjusting surface faces the loading surface and the second surface at a distance; wherein in the second position, the at least one adjusting portion is contacted with the second surface and the non-working area, and a distance from an edge of the first surface to the loading surface defines an unadjusted distance; and wherein in the third position, the at least one adjusting portion is contacted with the second surface and the non-working area, a distance from the edge of the first surface to the loading surface defines an adjusted distance, and the adjusted distance is less than the unadjusted distance, such that the first surface is contacted with the loading surface more evenly and the adjusted workpiece is formed.
 4. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a processing device, wherein the carrier, the adjusting device and the processing device are movable with respect to each other, such that the processing device is contacted with the adjusted workpiece.
 5. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is a wafer.
 6. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the wafer comprises a plurality of chips disposed thereon, and there is no chips at the non-working area.
 7. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting portion is an annular protrusion.
 8. A workpiece processing method for processing a warped workpiece, the workpiece having a plate shape and having a first surface and a second surface, the workpiece having a recessed portion at the second surface, and a non-working area located at an area near an edge of the workpiece, the workpiece processing method comprising: providing a carrier having a loading surface; placing the workpiece onto the loading surface of the carrier, such that the first surface of the workpiece is partially contacted with the loading surface of the carrier; providing an adjusting device having an adjusting surface, and at least one adjusting portion protruded from the adjusting surface; and generating a relative movement between the carrier and the adjusting device, so as to make the at least one adjusting portion to be contacted with the second surface and the non-working area, thereby the first surface is contacted with the loading surface more evenly and the workpiece becomes an adjusted workpiece.
 9. The workpiece processing method according to claim 8, wherein the carrier has a plurality of suction units disposed inside the carrier, and the adjusted workpiece is held on the carrier through a suction force generated by the plurality of suction units.
 10. The workpiece processing method according to claim 9, further comprising providing a processing device, wherein a relative movement is formed among the carrier, the adjusting device and the processing device, such that the processing device is contacted with the adjusted workpiece. 